Nashville Truck Accident Lawyer

More than 26 million trucks are registered and used for commercial purposes in the United States, of which 2.4 million are huge Class 8 semi-trucks. All commercial trucks combined traveled 397.8 billion miles in 2010. Commercial trucks are essential to the functioning of the American economy, but because of their size and potential to do great harm to drivers and passengers in vastly smaller passenger vehicles, they can seem quite intimidating on the road. Large trucks, when fully loaded, may weigh over 80,000 pounds.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that more than 500,000 large commercial trucks were involved in accidents in 2010, resulting in 5000 deaths and injuring more than 100,000 people. These figures represented a disturbing increase from the 3200 deaths reported in 2009.

Driving a large commercial truck requires a different skill set from driving a car, and truck drivers need special training. Trucks are harder to maneuver, have larger blind spots, and require using mirrors to observe other traffic when turning and making lane changes.

Why Truck Accidents Happen

Most truck accidents are caused by driver error. Drivers may have not been properly trained on safety procedures or they may lack the skills needed to handle large trucks. Speeding, distraction, driving while excessively fatigued, and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol are all behaviors that can lead to accidents attributable to driver negligence. Overloading trucks, failing to properly secure the load, skipping required maintenance, making excessively sharp turns, and running the wheels off the road can also lead to accidents.

Types of Large Truck Accidents

It’s important to find an attorney with plenty of specific experience in handling these cases. Truck accident cases require the attorney to be familiar with state and federal trucking regulations. The attorney should also be accustomed to handling high-value cases involving the kinds of catastrophic accidents that often happen in truck crashes, such as spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries, among others. Additionally, the attorney needs to understand that different parties might share liability in commercial truck accidents: drivers, owners, maintenance personnel, inspectors, and others.

Nashville, Tennessee Truck Accident Lawyer

For the best outcome in any legal case involving a large commercial truck, it is important to consult an attorney who is thoroughly familiar with federal and state regulations, and who has the experience and resources to conduct an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the accident, including compliance with safety regulations, possible driver impairment, and vehicle maintenance. The investigation will seek to discover whether the driver’s number of hours on the road driver exceeded those allowed by federal law and whether the driver has past DUI or drug offenses. Your attorney will need to move quickly to preserve evidence and reconstruct the accident to show that the driver and/or trucking company was at fault.

When you need an attorney to represent you or a family member for injuries from a Tennessee truck accident, Phillip Miller is one of Nashville’s most experienced personal injury lawyers. In his thirty-plus years of practice, Phillip has helped many victims of large commercial truck crashes recover economic and non-economic damages. He is a board-certified civil trial lawyer who is thoroughly familiar with state and federal regulations governing commercial trucks, and he knows the importance of launching an immediate investigation while evidence of liability is fresh.

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